This invention relates to a collapsible reuseable, bulk type container used for carrying heavy products, such as engine parts, and it particularly relates to such containers which are exceptionally well reinforced both in their bottom wall and in their side walls.
Bulk type, reuseable collapsible containers are shown, for example, in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,743,166 and in my U.S. patent application Ser. No. 471,312, filed May 20, 1974. Such containers are of a large size and, for example, may be 4 feet wide by 4 feet long, by 7 feet high. Because of the large size of these containers, it is important that they be collapsible so that when shipped empty, they are in a collapsed condition, so as to avoid taking up an excessive amount of storage or shipping space. When the containers are to be used, they are first opened or erected so that the parts to be shipped can be placed therein. The containers with the parts therein are shipped from one plant to another. After the goods are removed, the containers are collapsed and returned to the first plant for reuse.
The filled containers, normally must be lifted by fork lift trucks, because of their heavy weight and large size. In the construction shown in my prior designs, as shown in the above-mentioned patent and patent application, only one pair of edges of the bottom wall are reinforced. With particularly heavy loads, sometimes the bottom wall has a tendency to collapse as the fork lift, inserted into the openings intermediate the rigid skids, raises the container from the bottom wall.
In addition to the above problem, it is sometimes desirable to stack one of the bulk containers on top of the other. The containers of my earlier design relied primarily on the strength of the side walls of the erected container and at times would become damaged due to the weight of the container stacked thereabove.
In order to overcome the foregoing problems, the desirability of reinforcing the bottom wall and the side walls is important. In the construction of a suitable reinforced container, however, it is important that the container be of a simple and economical construction so as to not complicate the manufacturing of the container and permit manufacturing on a mass production basis. From the standpoint of the manufacturing of the container, it is preferred that containers be manufactured by using machines of the type shown in my copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 436,870, filed Jan. 28, 1974, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,905,282, entitled "Process and Apparatus for Assembling a Bulk Container". Furthermore, while reinforcing the container along the bottom wall and vertically, it is still required for the container to be foldable into a substantially flattened or collapsed condition. Therefore, it is not simply a matter of reinforcing the container, but all of the foregoing conditions must be met in order to provide a suitable reinforced container.